Orpheus and the Animals

• Orpheus and the Animals
• Orpheus charming the beasts

SK-A-317

signature and date: ‘Paulus Potter f 1650’

The Classical poet Ovid described how Orpheus en-chanted nature with his wonderful lyre music. This theme was popular among 17th-century animal painters because it gave them a chance to depict many different sorts of animals. Here Potter demonstrates that his repertoire encompassed more than the usual farm animals. He painted dozens of native and exotic beasts. In the middle Orpheus is strumming his harp.

Bikker, Jonathan, 'The hidden collection of the spectacularly bankrupt banker Leendert Pieter de Neufville', Simiolus 36 (2012), nr. 3/4, p. 187, afb. 1.

painter: Paulus Potter

1650

olieverf op doek

• height 67 cm x width 89 cm
• depth 10 cm

purchase 1809

Public domain

Bikker, Jonathan, 'The hidden collection of the spectacularly bankrupt banker Leendert Pieter de Neufville', Simiolus 36 (2012), nr. 3/4, p. 187, afb. 1.

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200107888